Hinata's Newest Resident
by BrokenKokoro
Summary: What happens when a new face shows up at Hinata House? The residents are trying their hardest to throw a crazy party for her. Takes place right before Keitaro and Naru are married. Chapter One is up!
1. Prologue An Unwilling Goodbye

**Disclaimer: **_I do not own Love Hina, nor any of the original characters created in said series. All other characters copyright **BrokenKokoro**. _

**Author's Note: **This story is based loosely off of the Love Hina manga. Not everything I mention is 100 consistent. It takes place after the original story has ended, right before Keitaro and Naru get married. Ema Maeda is already living at Hinata House in this story. The ages of some characters may be slightly off as well.

**Prologue (_An Unwilling Goodbye_)**

The rain dripped on the windshield as Isaac (my boyfriend? Fiancé? I wasn't sure) drove me to the airport. Although I was 20, I had never flown in an airplane before. I was nervous, but not nearly as nervous as I felt about the long, harrowing journey ahead. You see, I was going to Japan. Ever since the young age of 15, it had been my dream to spend a year living there. Fresh out of college with a degree in Graphic Design, I decided now was the perfect time. Not only was Isaac starting college in about a week (he was 2 years younger than I), but also a year apart would ultimately test, and possibly strengthen, our confusing relationship. He had given me a beautiful diamond ring almost six months ago for my birthday, but whether it was an actual engagement ring or just a promise ring, we weren't sure. Hopefully this year-long, semi-hiatus would help us both figure out what we wanted from each other. However, I couldn't mull over my feelings much longer. The International Airport of Philadelphia was slowly, but surely, coming in to view. The rain had subsided to a light drizzle, and the sun was trying to peek out from underneath the clouds. I looked over at Isaac, who was concentrating on finding a parking spot. His normally white-blond hair looked dull in the cloudy atmosphere. Sort of like my feelings. Don't get me wrong – I was excited to go to Japan, but I didn't want to face the reality of not seeing Isaac for a whole year. The absence of the car's engine snapped me back to my senses as I realized that Isaac had the car parked. We stared at each other awkwardly for a moment, and then he asked,

"When does your flight leave again?"

"Not for about another half-hour," I replied quietly.

My throat felt tight, and it was all I could do to keep from crying. Isaac seemed to sense this. I saw a look of sympathy flicker across his bright blue eyes, and he stroked my shoulder in a reassuring way.

"Isaac—" I began shakily.

He shushed me gently, then leaned over the stick shift console and gave me a soft kiss. I received it warmly, breathing in his scent, filling my lungs with his sweetness. Suddenly, everything seemed okay in the world. I forgot all about where I was and why I was there as we continued in this manner; his kisses comforting me while my tongue found his and I stroked his hair. As soon as it had begun, it stopped when I realized that time had _not_ stopped – I had a plane to catch. When I pulled slowly away from Isaac, I felt that my face was wet with tears.

"Lynn…" he trailed of concernedly.

"I'm fine," I muttered as I hastily opened the car door while avoiding eye contact.

I slammed it shut more aggressively than intended, which caused me to jump.

_Why couldn't I get it together? _I thought. _This is ridiculous._

I began unloading my luggage from the backseat.

"Want a hand?" Isaac, who had also got out of the car, asked.

I mumbled an incoherent response, again without looking at him. I was too afraid I'd start crying again, which is the last thing I wanted Isaac to see. But whatever I had been trying to say, it didn't seem to matter to Isaac. He had already retrieved my two large _Samsonite _suitcases from the trunk of his car. I shot him a smile of appreciation as we emerged through the revolving glass doors of the airport and heaved our way towards luggage inspection. My suitcases, duffel, toiletry case and purse all passed successfully and were promptly loaded onto the terminal. All that was left was goodbye. We made our way silently toward the gateway that led to my flight – Philadelphia, PA to Tokyo, Japan. I turned to face him, and, without warning, locked him in a tight embrace, burying my face in his chest.

"I'll miss you," I whispered raspily – my voice was choked by a new bought of tears.

Isaac patted my hair gently.

"Lynn," he began heavily. "Are you sure you want to do this? Is this really what you want?"

I hesitated, not daring to breathe, the fibers of his shirt filling my nose. _Was_ I doing the right thing? My mind immediately flashed back to the months of preparation for this moment, and the enthusiastic letters I had received from the landlords of where I was about to be living. My veins seemed to flow with excitement, despite the sadness I felt. I pulled my face out of the wet (from my tears) folds of Isaac's shirt and smiled happily at him. For even though my heart ached inside, I was thrilled about the coming year.

"Yes," I breathed.

Isaac's eyes seemed to light up from my change of heart.

"Good," he replied. "Because no matter what country you're in…I will always love you, from the bottom of my heart."

He finished with a kiss on my forehead. At this response, my sadness seemed to have dried up. Without further ado, I let go of Isaac and headed for the mouth of the gate.

"Wait!" He called desperately.

I turned, still smiling.

"Where are you staying?"

"Hinata House. It's supposed to make dreams come true," I shouted back. _That definitely didn't sound like a bad thing, _I thought as I glanced at my ring sparkling in the sunlight.

End Prologue 

**Author's Note: **This is the first time I've ever submitted something – please rate/review! I know there is not much relevance to _Love Hina _yet—but the first chapter (which is currently in progress) is when the story _really_ starts. Let me know what you think! Thanks. –BK


	2. Chapter One WelcomeTo Hinata House!

**Disclaimer: **_I do not own Love Hina, nor any of the original characters created in said series. All other characters copyright **BrokenKokoro**. _

**Author's Note: **This story is based loosely off of the Love Hina manga. Not everything I mention is 100 consistent. It takes place after the original story has ended, right before Keitaro and Naru get married. Ema Maeda is already living at Hinata House in this story. The ages of some characters may be slightly off as well.

**Chapter One (Welcome…To Hinata House!)**

"Aiyeeeh!" A piercing shriek split the otherwise silent air.

"Nyah hah hah!" came the maniacal laughter that followed.

The residents of the quaint town of Hinata stopped what they were doing in abrupt alarm. An elderly gentleman in a yukata who was standing outside a local teashop muttered to himself,

"It must be the residents of that girls dormitory again."

He smiled and shook his head. As soon as the rest of the residents of Hinata realized that the commotion was only coming from Hinata House (as was the norm around those parts), they went back to their daily routine for a Saturday afternoon. Hinata Town was a small, old-fashioned hot springs community about an hour's distance from Tokyo. With a population barely reaching 1,000, the main industry was tourism. Everyone who lived there knew of the infamous Hinata House. Once a famous Inn with its' own hot spring and run by the beauty Hinata Urashima, it was now an all-girls dormitory. Most of the residents were wary of the place, forbidding their children to go near the establishment with the fear that they would be "corrupted" by the rowdy young women who lived there. Only the older residents of the town who were around back when Miss Urashima ran the inn seemed to know the magic that flowed within the walls of the old building.

Naru Narusegawa ran frantically through the halls of Hinata House, searching for the source of the distressed scream that had shattered the atmosphere only seconds earlier. She found it in the smoke-filled cafeteria on the ground floor of the dorm.

"Sh-Shinobu?" Naru coughed. "What happened?"

But she needn't have asked.

"Nyah hah hah!" came the maniacal laughter once more as a young woman with shoulder length, sandy-colored hair, tan skin, and bright green eyes emerged from within the cloud of smoke.

Beside her was some sort of mechanical monstrosity, complete with a revolving head, three eyes, and six legs. Naru sighed.

"Su, what're you—" she began exasperatedly.

She was cut off, however, by a strangled cry as a girl in her late teens with long black hair leaped out of nowhere, tackling sandy-haired Kaolla Su to the ground.

"Su!!" she cried in frustration. "You ruined _everything_!"

She looked as if she were ready to cry. As the smoke slowly began to clear, Naru saw the remnants of a delicious-looking meal strewn all over the floor; the pan it was baking in was in pieces. The oven door was open, revealing the source of the smoke. Su, unaware of the mess she had caused, happily cheered,

"Yay! Shinobu wants to play with Mecha Krishna the 2nd!"

Even though she was 20 years old and a sophomore at the most prestigious college in Japan (Tokyo University), foreign exchange student Kaolla Su still acted childishly carefree. Naru could only assume that 'Mecha Krishna the 2nd' (modeled after the original Krishna the kissing machine Su had crafted many years ago) was the machine standing next to the toppled Su and Shinobu. Su's newest invention didn't faze Naru, however. On the contrary, it angered her.

"Su, this is no time to play!" she exclaimed. "Put Mecha Krishna away and get back to the decorations that you're supposed to be working on!"

Su, pouting, stomped out of the room, Mecha Krishna the 2nd at her heels. Naru, meanwhile, was helping 19-year-old Shinobu Maehara up off of the floor while trying her best to console her.

"Hey, it's water under the bridge now Shinobu. We still have some time – well, an hour and 45 minutes—" Naru checked her watch (the one Keitaro had given her almost six years ago) quickly. "—Before Lynn's supposed to arrive. You should be able to fix the spaghetti into something edible by then, right?"

Shinobu brushed a clump of her shiny black hair out of her beautiful blue eyes and sniffed.

"Yeah, I guess you're right, Naru. It only takes about an hour to make from scratch."

She suddenly smiled. Naru patted Shinobu's head in an almost motherly way, before adding,

"And you already have the side dishes prepared, right?"

Shinobu nodded.

"Great. Here, I'll go get a mop and help clean this mess," Naru proposed before running off towards the storage closet near the open-air bath.

Shinobu watched her go, sighed, and then turned around to face the impending chore – repairing the baked-spaghetti-with-rice, a one-of-a-kind Shinobu Maehara creation.

_Naru always seems to be so full of happiness and energy, _she thought. _I guess that's what being in love does to you…not that I would know. I'm 19 and I still haven't had a boyfriend yet! All that I'm really good for is cooking and household chores._

She smiled sadly. Although Shinobu's confidence and beauty had grown a considerable amount since she had first arrived at Hinata House over seven years ago, she couldn't help comparing herself to the vibrantly gorgeous Naru sometimes. Suddenly, Naru's voice broke Shinobu's thoughts.

"That's strange," Naru thought aloud as she re-entered the cafeteria with an old mop and a metal bucket. "Sarah and Ema are supposed to be cleaning the bath, but I didn't see either of them when I went to the storage closet."

Shinobu remained silent as she stood over the stove, waiting for the water in the pot holding the noodles to boil. Naru gave a nonchalant shrug, then made her way over to the sink and began to fill the metal bucket with warm water.

"So, uh, what exactly happened with Mecha Krishna, anyways?" Naru asked after she had set the bucket of water on the floor and had begun to mop.

Shinobu, who was busy straining the noodles looked over at her friend and surprisingly, giggled.

"What?" Naru asked in confusion, pausing from her work.

Shinobu tossed her hair a little, and said while smiling,

"It was actually quite funny."

When Naru's puzzled look deepened, she quickly added,

"Well, not at the time, it wasn't. Just looking back at the whole scenario makes me laugh."

"So what happened?" Naru asked again as she resumed her mopping.

"Well, you know Su," Shinobu began. "She's always creating her 'mechas' to help out with something"

Naru's eyebrow twitched irritably as she mumbled bitterly,

"I guess you can say that."

Shinobu giggled some more, then continued,

"Well she remodeled the old Krishna into a new mecha that could aid in household chores. Or so she said." Shinobu rolled her eyes. "Anyway, she reasoned that Krishna would take over Sempai's jobs while he's on his dig with Seta and Haruka at Pararakelse. Basically, she commanded Krishna to help me with the spaghetti. And…you can guess the rest…" Shinobu trailed off.

Naru sighed audibly.

"Is it really _that _noticeable that Keitaro's gone?" she asked quietly.

"Ah…Naru! I…I'm sorry. I didn't mean to, you know…mention him," Shinobu stuttered, sending stray noodles flying.

"It's okay," Naru smiled meekly, sucking up the dropped noodles in her mop. "It's just, he proposes…and then runs off to some island a week later."

She stared blankly into the swirling, murky water of her bucket. Shinobu walked over to Naru and put a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"You and I both know Sempai's not like that. He has a good heart. Don't take it personally…he's just so absent-minded sometimes."

Shinobu giggled, which made Naru smile.

"Oh! You have to go pick up Lynn from the airport soon, don't you?" shinobu asked.

Naru consulted her watch.

"Yeah, in about a half-hour."

"Then go get changed and ready to go. I'll finish the rest of the kitchen duties," Shinobu urged.

"Alright," Naru agreed, hugging Shinobu briefly before handing her the mop. "And…thanks," she added.

"No problem! Now go already!" Shinobu waved her hand at her.

Naru shot Shinobu one last, grateful smile, then left the cafeteria. However, she didn't get very far. Somewhere in the depths of Hinata House, a thunderous crash sounded, shaking the polished wooden floor underneath Naru's slippered feet.

"What the--?" Naru began as she heard Shinobu shriek from back in the cafeteria.

One again, Naru, instead of going to her room to change into a nice outfit to greet Lynn, found herself dashing toward the second – and hopefully final – ruckus of the day. What she found when she skidded into the main lobby moments later wasn't what she had expected at all – yet it didn't surprise her in the least. In a far corner of the room where Su (and apparently Mecha Krishna the 2nd) had been diligently attempting to hang the other end of a big, bright "Welcome to Hinata, Lynn!" sign lay a tangled pile of squirming arms and legs as three screaming girls tried to pry free of one another. Scattered across the remaining expanse of floor were the random body parts of Mecha Krishna. The Welcome sign, instead of hanging proudly, drooped half-heartedly from the other end of the ceiling, lightly brushing the floor. It was a sorry sigh indeed. As Su, Sarah MacDougal, and Ema Maeda finally picked themselves up off of the floor, Motoko Aoyama as well as Kanako Urashima descended from the upper floors of the House to see for themselves what had happened. Su's face was blackened from the explosion of Mecha Krishna, 14-year-old Sarah's overalls drooped from one shoulder, and 15-year-old Ema's wavy black hair was disheveled and her glasses missing. Naru put a hand to her forehead and asked in frustration,

"What happened now?"

"We should like to know the same thing," 22-year-old Motoko interjected calmly.

Kanako just stood there silently, her 21-year-old face expressionless.

"They blew up my newest creation, that's what!" Su yelled, pointing a threatening finger at the two younger girls, her face as black as ever.

Sarah rolled her light blue eyes unconcernedly.

"Well, if you wouldn't install self-destruct devices on all of your damn machines…"

Su looked as if she could have killed Sarah with her bare hands. But before she could do any such thing, Ema began timidly,

"N-Naru sempay, please don't be angry!"

Everyone turned to look at Ema, whose freckled face flushed.

"Sarah and I _were_ cleaning the bath, but then she drop-kicked me and stole my glasses! So I began to chase her and then we—"

Naru held up a hand to stop Ema.

"I get it already," she said impatiently. "Sarah, why did you do that? We have a party to prepare for our newest resident, and all anyone can do around here is goof off!"

"Whoa," Sarah threw up her hands in defense, her long blond pigtails swinging. "Cleaning all day gets pretty boring. I had to do _something_ to make it fun."

"HEY!" Ema screamed hysterically, tears forming in her bright green eyes.

"THAT'S ENOUGH!" Naru yelled angrily. "Everyone back to work! Do you want our guest to walk out on us?"

"Excuse me, Naru-san," Kanako said in an un-characteristically sweet voice. "But if you don't mind me saying so, just because you're engaged to marry and madly in love with _my _Onii-chan doesn't give you the right to take over his position as manager of this dorm." She blinked demonically.

"Oh, you're one to talk," Motoko shot at Kanako sarcastically. "Wasn't it you, who upon first arrival at this establishment, tried to dictate us because of a bizarre and, may I remind you, _unrequited_ love for this same brother?"

Motoko, being a 3rd year law student at Tokyo University, tried to defend justice in every situation, so much so that it had become very annoying to the other residents.

"Shut up, kendo girl," Kanako hissed menacingly.

Naru closed her eyes and sighed, nearing tears herself.

_I can't do this anymore! _She thought desperately. _Keitaro, I need you here to help! If only you hadn't run off to Pararakelse with Seta…_

"Fufufu…"

A sly giggle interrupted her thoughts. Naru spun around to find Mutsumi Otohime and Mitsune Konno standing in the doorway to the dorm, wearing white aprons that said 'Hinata Tea Shop' over their clothes.

"Oh my, Narusegawa-san, you seem to be in quite a bind!" 27-year-old Mutsumi exclaimed in a densely happy voice, one hand resting gently on her chin.

"You could say that," Naru sighed wearily. "But nevermind that. What are you two doing out of the tea shop?"

Mitsune (otherwise known as 'Kitsune') strutted lazily over to Naru, clapping a hand on her shoulder while saying,

"We closed up shop early. Decided to see if we could be of any help with the party preparations going on up here. And it looks as if it's a good thing we came."

She nodded in a bemused way at the mess before her.

"I hate to interrupt," Mutsumi cut in innocently, still standing in the doorway of Hinata House. "But isn't Narusegawa supposed to take the 3 o'clock Shinkasen to Tokyo airport?"

Everyone stared at the mahogany-haired, Okinawa-native in mild disbelief at her obliviousness to the situation before her. When no one answered, he proceeded,

"Well, according to my watch, it's currently 3:05!"

She giggled as if it were a comedy act.

"Eep!" Naru screeched, wide-eyed.

Without warning, she broke free of Kitsune's grasp and tore frantically out the door, knocking over Mustumi.

"Oh my!" she exclaimed, clearly unaware that she was on the ground, blood trickling from her head.

"Well!" fox-eyed Kitsune cheered, breaking the silence as she cracked a wily smile. "Let the festivities begin!"

And with that, the 26-year-old slacker pulled a can of booze out of her apron pocket. As everyone began to get back to work (Kitsune just plopped herself down on the nearby couch, while Mutsumi still lay at the door unconscious, her soul floating angelically toward the ceiling for the umpteenth time), Ema asked moodily,

"How come I didn't get a party for _my_ arrival at the dormitory?"

Everyone sweat-dropped as Motoko answered wisely,

"One thing you need to learn about living at Hinata House, dear, is _not_ to question the goings-on around here…"

**End Chapter One**

Well, I am quite proud of how this chapter turned out. It took me a long time to write, mainly because I got partway into it and then decided to start over. I tried my hardest to choose all of my words carefully, going into intricate detail as some of you suggested. Again, reviews, especially criticism (I want to improve more!) would be appreciated. Thanks!

_Next up in _Hinata's Newest Resident, _we get an in-depth look at Lynn's history as she arrives in Japan. She meets Naru Narusegawa at the airport, not knowing what's in store for her when she is finally to arrive at her new home._


End file.
